Handcuffs have been repletely known for well over a hundred years in the field of law enforcement as used in the incarceration of criminals and criminal suspects. Standard handcuffs, such as those that are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,529, include a pair of lockable cuff or bracelet sections, each of the bracelet sections being defined by respective arcuate cheek and jaw members that are pivotally secured by means of a locking mechanism that is carried on the cheek member. The locking mechanism includes one or more gears that are engageable with a row of teeth carried by the pivotal jaw member, wherein the locking mechanism can be selectively disengaged and the bracelet sections opened by means of a key.
A number of significant developments have taken place over time to incorporate new and varied forms of locking mechanisms into the bracelet sections of the handcuffs, but very few developments have been made with regard to the interconnection between the bracelet sections. Typically, the lockable bracelet sections are tethered together by a linkage consisting of several chain links fixedly attached to the end of each bracelet section.
A number of ways have been developed for defeating or minimizing the effective use of handcuffs, once attached to a suspect, due in part to the above linkage. For example, in those instances where a person has the handcuffs attached behind their back, the present interconnection between the bracelet sections is sufficiently flexible to permit a cuffed individual to “step through” the handcuffs by pulling the handcuffs behind their legs, which can be accomplished, for example, when the detained individual is seated in a police vehicle. Once the handcuffs are in front of the individual, it is much easier for the detained individual to run or to achieve better balance. Moreover, the individual would also be able to better access a shirt pocket, for example, to retrieve a hidden handcuff key, to obtain a weapon or to hide evidence. Though restrained to some extent, it is also possible for a handcuffed individual to still use his or her hands to grab an officer, such as from behind when the officer has his or her back turned from the suspect or to attempt to grab an officer's sidearm by making contact with the officer, given the relative amount of freedom of the arms and hands that are provided using present handcuffs. There have also been numerous court cases that have involved handcuffs which have been made by detainees, due in part to the discomfort and injury stemming from their use. Some of these cases have resulted in significant monetary awards.
As noted above, there have been a few improvements developed in the linkage between the lockable bracelet sections, such as described, for example, by a restraint mechanism that is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,661 to Spiropoulos. According to this patent, a spool/reel system is introduced between the bracelet sections in a separate housing assembly. This system permits the spacing between the bracelet sections to be selectively adjusted as needed, much like a leash. This design, however, does not address the problems of “step through” as noted above and further enlists an entirely new mechanism that is likely to be incompatible with existing handcuffs without requiring significant redesign.
According to another developed technique, the chain linkage is replaced with a hinged interconnection between the bracelet sections. This design is repletely described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,966,787 and 4,138,867, each to Tompkins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,368 to Sullivan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,142 to Kruger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,890 to LeFavor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,658 to Cross et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,723 to Ecker et al and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0189302A1 to Anderson. In each of these references, the lockable bracelet sections are interconnected by a hinge assembly in which the hinging axis is arranged in a direction that is essentially perpendicular to the pivot axis of the bracelet sections. This hinging assists in the foldability of the handcuffs, but is not particularly effective in solving the above stated problems related to more effectively restraining a cuffed individual.
According to yet another improvement design, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,231 to Tobin, Jr., a pair of handcuffs are defined by respective bracelet sections that are attached to one another through a linkage assembly that includes at least one swiveling pin. This connection provides some flexibility in that three degrees of freedom are defined for an improved movement capability of the bracelet sections, but this flexibility in and of itself also does not adequately address or solve the problems that are discussed above.